As much as it hurts Tiger Woods, his bum leg will inflict pain on sponsors, fans and television executives who will be in the hole financially without him on the tour the rest of the year.

Golf’s No. 1-ranked player and the world’s top-earning athlete guarantees the biggest crowds and highest ratings. For TV executives, his absence will be hard to ignore – 40 percent of golf watchers actually turn off the television when Tiger’s not playing, studies have shown.

The disparity for the Golf Channel, which airs mostly early tournament rounds on Thursdays and Fridays, is around 30 percent.

The “Tiger Factor” drew in an extra 2 million viewers per telecast over the past three years, according to Nielsen ratings of non-major tournaments Woods appeared in compared to ratings of those tournaments he skipped.

ESPN crowed that its US Open coverage of the playoff competition between Woods and Rocco Mediate on Monday was the most viewed golf telecast ever for cable.

The network said 4.76 million viewers tuned in to watch the first half of the match, which ran from noon until 2 p.m., before broadcast network NBC took over.

“Once he disappears from the course the advertisers are sort of screwed,” said Jonah Freedman, editor of Sports Illustrated’s “Fortunate 50,” a ranking of the 50 top-earning American athletes. “That’s the problem.”

Corporate sponsors, including Nike, Gatorade and Buick, put on a brave face and expressed their support for Woods yesterday while they assessed how his absence would crush their marketing plans.

“While the news that he won’t be competing for the remainder of the season will have its impact, we’re pleased that he is taking the appropriate steps to get back to full strength and look forward to his return,” Golf Channel President Page Thompson said.

Among advertisers, Buick has the most to lose in the short-term. Woods, who stars in the company’s commercials, drives a Buick to tournaments as part of a season-long promotion.

The car company plans to continue running two ads with Woods during next week’s Buick Open, but has to rethink two more spots promoting its “Tee Off” contest, in which consumers have the chance to win the Buick that Woods drives to each tournament.

“He’s been a great partner,” said Maria Rohrer, Buick’s head of marketing.

“We have to think about how that promotion gets augmented or revised if he doesn’t play anymore for the rest of the season.”

A Nike spokesman said the company wasn’t ready to address what changes, if any, it will make to its marketing plan. During the US Open, Nike aired a poignant ad showing Woods with his father before he died.

Woods has an undeniable impact on the sport, with a unique ability to attract casual viewers to the game.

“There’s a certain audience for golf,” said Brad Adgate, research director for Horizon Media, a New York ad-buying firm. “What Tiger does is transcend that. He’s really larger than the sport. Very few athletes are like that.”